Help! I am bound to Aizen!

Under the moonlight, Kaelith walked halfway across Seireitei, heading back to the Shino Academy dormitory.

After showing his passage from the First Division to the gatekeeper, the guard didn't hesitate to let him through.

Putting away the pass, Kaelith couldn't help but feel a bit awestruck.

The taste of authority… was unexpectedly sweet.

In the past, whenever he went to hang out in Rukongai if he stayed out past curfew, he'd always have to sneak back over the walls, never able to stroll in with such ease.

Wearing a mischievous smile, Kaelith swaggered back into the dormitory, heading towards his room.

As he neared his door, he spotted something unexpected.

Aizen, dressed in plain, simple clothes, was coming from the other end of the hallway.

When Aizen noticed Kaelith, he paused, looking a bit surprised.

But then he casually said, "What a coincidence. I just stepped out to use the restroom and happened to run into you on your way back."

"The Captain-Commander's training must have been tough, considering you're only just now getting back."

Kaelith gave a brief recount of the events from the night.

Hearing about Kaelith's "adventure," Aizen couldn't help but feel a bit impressed.

As expected of Kaelith—he couldn't even attend a simple lesson with the First Division without stirring up some sort of trouble.

Speaking of his training at the First Division, Aizen couldn't help but feel curious about what techniques the one hailed as the "strongest Shinigami in a thousand years" would teach Kaelith.

Although curious, he wouldn't pry.

For any Shinigami, their abilities were their most valuable assets—something never to be casually shared with others.

Even though he and Kaelith were friends, there was no reason to inquire into what exactly he'd learned.

With that thought, Aizen prepared to head back to his room.

But before he could take a step, Kaelith spoke up:

"Oh, right, Sōsuke, are you tired right now? If not, I could share some of what Captain-Commander Yamamoto taught me tonight."

"?"

Aizen turned his head, looking at Kaelith with a touch of surprise.

"What's wrong? Are you that tired? We can always go over it tomorrow," Kaelith said.

Aizen frowned, replying, "It's not a matter of being tired or not… Kaelith, do you realize what you're saying?"

"Although I don't know exactly what the Captain-Commander taught you, those lessons are valuable resources."

"Mastering techniques that other Shinigami don't know gives you the chance to progress faster, gain more resources, and secure greater opportunities."

"These are your assets. How could you just share them so freely?"

Hearing this, Kaelith's expression turned thoughtful.

"It's true. What I learned from the Captain-Commander shouldn't just be handed out to others."

Aizen nodded and was just about to leave.

But Kaelith spoke up again: "However, who are we to each other? Are we really just 'others'?"

Aizen was momentarily stunned.

Before he could respond, Kaelith was already heading off, saying, "Come on, let's find a better spot. Here we'd risk disturbing others, plus we'd have to dodge the dorm supervisors… Let's go to the training hall; it's empty at night."

Watching Kaelith, who had already set off on his own, Aizen's surprise shifted to confusion, then to quiet acceptance. He gently shook his head.

Kaelith… this guy. I really don't understand him.

Aizen let out a faintly exasperated smile, stepping forward to follow.

---

Inside the training hall, Kaelith shared everything Captain-Commander Yamamoto had taught him that day with Aizen.

Hearing Yamamoto's improvements to the sword meditation, Aizen's expression turned thoughtful.

After a minute or so, he nodded and said, "As expected of the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, this sword meditation technique not only helps awaken the Zanpakutō but more importantly, it allows one to familiarize themselves with controlling their spiritual pressure and emotions."

"Kaelith, you should practice this technique more. Even if it's not for the Zanpakutō, it will be extremely helpful for your future battles!"

Kaelith clicked his tongue. "How did you end up learning Old Man Yamamoto's tricks? You're starting to sound like a nagging mother."

Aizen: "..." He narrowed his eyes and looked at Kaelith.

Then, Kaelith, with a mysterious grin, said, "Instead of the sword meditation, Old Man Yamamoto also taught me a combat technique."

He then repeated word for word, the technique Yamamoto had shared with him, which involved using sword pressure.

After listening, Aizen stroked his chin.

"Using the Zanpakutō to alter the spiritual pressure's property to 'slash'... For those whose Zanpakutō hasn't awakened yet, or for those whose Zanpakutō's abilities are not combat-related, this is quite useful. It's much more effective than simply releasing spiritual pressure."

"Who would have thought that the man with the strongest Kido-type Zanpakutō in the Soul Society would specialize in such a technique? Quite surprising."

Seeing Aizen muttering to himself, Kaelith waved his hand.

"Stop thinking about Old Man Yamamoto. So, what do you think, Sōsuke? Do you think you can learn this technique within a week?"

Aizen opened his mouth, instinctively about to say that he didn't have that kind of talent.

But, just as the words were on the tip of his tongue, he suddenly remembered how Kaelith had eagerly shared what he had learned with him without holding back.

After a few seconds of silence, he chuckled softly.

Under Kaelith's expectant gaze, Aizen slowly spoke.

"A week? That's unnecessary."

"One day will be enough."

Seeing the confident gleam in Aizen's eyes, Kaelith laughed.

As expected, with Aizen's help, there was no task too difficult. With Yamamoto's learning challenge, there was no need to worry at all.

If he were to learn sword pressure on his own, he would probably manage it in about a week, but it would take a lot of effort.

At least in the first four or five days, he would lose all of his free time for extracurricular activities.

But now... All he had to do was repeat the key points that Yamamoto had mentioned, and Aizen would synchronize with them.

Kaelith couldn't help but feel a little moved.

When you combined himself and Aizen together, it really was overflowing with talent.

And Aizen, seeing Kaelith's genuine smile, couldn't help but smirk.

As expected, just as he thought, Kaelith wouldn't even be surprised by such an outrageous statement.

If things went as expected, this guy had probably already learned how to use sword pressure.

Did he teach him these techniques because he was afraid that Aizen wouldn't be able to keep up with his pace of becoming stronger? 

With all this confidence, he shouldn't be shocked when Aizen eventually surpassed him.

Looking at Kaelith, Aizen suddenly had a thought.

"By the way, didn't you want to learn how to hide your spiritual pressure?"

"Now that we have some time, I can teach you."

That night, in the swordsmanship dojo, the two young students exchanged techniques that even professional Shinigami would shy away from.

The next afternoon, Kaelith received a system notification that he had learned how to use sword pressure.

After mentally simulating the technique, he found a quiet place, drew his Asauchi, and casually slashed.

A blue crescent-shaped wave of spiritual pressure shot out from the tip of his blade, crashing into a nearby dirt mound, and causing a cloud of dust to rise.

After feeling the strength of the sword pressure, Kaelith couldn't help but click his tongue.

As expected of Aizen, he perfected the technique in just a day, which was truly mind-boggling.

However, despite being able to directly synchronize various abilities from Aizen, Kaelith didn't neglect his daily training.

In fact, in order to better digest this hard-won power, his training intensity was even higher than before.

Because he had pushed himself too hard that day, he woke up in the middle of the night, groggy from arm soreness.

Slowly sitting up, he stretched, and realizing it was still dark, he prepared to lie back down.

But just as he was about to do so, he suddenly noticed something strange... There seemed to be an issue with Aizen's bed... (t/n what is he doing in Aizen's bed!!?) 

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Thanks for the stones here is your extra chapter!